


Without a doubt

by heart_of_fire



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne is stressed, F/M, Gilbert is the best, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 20:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heart_of_fire/pseuds/heart_of_fire
Summary: In which Anne is stressed about the Queens exams, and Gilbert comforts her.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 161





	Without a doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy :)

“And can anyone tell me what 16 x 7 is?” Miss Stacy’s question rang out across the schoolhouse. Anne looked around. No one had raised their hand. Not even Gilbert, who was usually just as keen as her. She subtly glanced at him and was unsurprised to see him writing vigorously in his notebook. He was always doing that, writing extra notes. It disconcerted her. She wanted to, no, needed to beat him in the Queens exams. What if he was ahead? 

“Anne?”  
Miss Stacy’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. The teacher looked at her expectantly. 16 x 7, 16 x 7...Anne began to panic. She knew this, it was easy. If only she could remember the method they had just done. What was happening? Why was her head so fuzzy? Her usually sharp memory was completely failing her, and the whole class could see it. 

She felt Gilbert’s eyes on her from across the classroom and a wave of emotion suddenly engulfed her. Tears pricked in her eyes as she felt herself welling up. She couldn’t be here anymore. She desperately needed some fresh air, away from the stares of her classmates. 

“Miss Stacy, I am very sorry but please may I be excused. I feel quite ill.” Anne finally squeaked. Miss Stacy agreed immediately, with only a quick, “Do you want someone to come with you?”. Anne shook her head curtly. She stood and almost had to sit back down again. Her vision had darkened and she felt extraordinarily light headed. Hoping no one had noticed, she righted herself and it was all she could do not to sprint out of the schoolhouse into the chilly, winter air.

——————————————————————————

Gilbert was concerned about Anne. As soon as she’d walked into the school that morning, he’d known something was wrong. Very wrong.

Her normally bright and vibrant eyes were dull. Her skin was sallow and, when Miss Stacy announced they were studying her favourite poem, instead of her usual enthusiasm she only sighed. She had prominent bags under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in weeks and judging from what Gilbert had just seen, it seemed as if that could be the case. Gilbert had never seen Anne make a blunder like that. She had the quickest mind out of anyone he knew, even when it came to maths - her so called worst subject.

“I feel quite ill.” Anne finished. Gilbert was extremely worried now. Anne would never voluntarily miss a lesson. What was going on with her? He had to make sure she was ok. She stood up and he noticed her almost lose her balance. In an instant he was on his feet, but she righted herself and, not noticing him, was out the door in a flash. 

“Miss Stacy, umm, Delphine and Bash need me I have to go really sorry bye...” Gilbert spluttered, throwing his coat on and running out straight after Anne. His books lay abandoned on the desk. He knew if he didn’t go quickly he would lose her.

——————————————————————————

The cool air whipped against Anne’s face as she sprinted down the track towards the woods. She had to get away. She had to run. But her limbs groaned in protest. She was so tired. This was the second week in a row that she’d been up late every night studying for the Queens exams. They were only a month away.

When Anne considered herself to be sufficiently deep into the forest, she finally stopped sprinting. Exhausted in every way, she slumped against a nearby tree. It was only then that she let the tears fall freely.

She was going to fail the exams. She couldn’t even do basic multiplication! How on earth would she come first? And, on top of all of that, she was feeling awful. He head was pounding and her vision was fading in and out. She felt as if she might throw up at any moment. It was as if someone had stuffed her head with cotton wool. The only thought she could focus on was that of her imminent failure, making her cry even more.

——————————————————————————

Gilbert had been running for what felt like an age. In theory, he should have caught up with Anne easily, given he was much taller than her and had much longer legs. However, as with almost everything regarding Anne, his predictions were wrong and this was not the case.

Ahead of him, she wound her way swiftly through the trees, almost like deer in her manner. Had he not been desperately trying to follow her, he would have admired her agility. She really was full of surprises.

Finally, he stopped. A few meters away, just ahead of him, sat Anne leaning against a tree. Crying. 

Her head was in her hands and her braids had come loose from all the running she’d done. Gilbert had never seen her so distressed before, and it made his heart ache. He’d noticed that she wasn’t quite herself the past week, but he’d put it down to the increase in their workload and his own paranoia about people falling ill.

Treading carefully, so as not to startle her, Gilbert approached Anne. He knew that she hated being sneaked up on, due to her time at the asylum. 

“Anne?” He called out tentatively, moving to crouch in front of her.

——————————————————————————

Anne’s head snapped up immediately. What in the world was Gilbert Blythe, of all people, doing here? Of course, out of everyone she knew, he would be the one to find her in this state, her face red and streaked with tears. She knew she looked like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards, but for once, she didn’t care. She was too tired. The stress of the Queens exams was weighing too heavily on her mind.

“Anne,” he said again, “What’s going on?”

She looked up into his eyes, which were clouded with concern. For a moment she considered blaming her breakdown on her ‘womanly flowering time’ and be done with the whole situation. That would surely make sure he left her alone. 

But then again, she could barely think, let alone lie, especially to Gilbert who had an annoying habit of always knowing if she was being truthful or not. That boy could read her like a book, and, as with everything, Anne was too tired to fight it. Anyway, she knew Gilbert was a good listener (that was part of the reason she was so sure that he would make an excellent doctor). He wouldn’t laugh at her, at least. 

“Anne, please let me try and help you,” Gilbert pleaded, resting a hand on her knee.

With a sigh, Anne met his gaze. 

“It’s just that recently I’ve been so worried about the Queens exams because, as you know, I want to come first, and to do that I need to know all of it inside out, and to do that I have to study as much as possible, and to do that I have to stay up much later into the night,” she paused for a brief moment to take a breath, tears streaming down her face. “Which overall means that I’m absolutely exhausted and I don’t know what to do and I wish I could just go to sleep and it would all go away but I can’t and I’m going to fail and everyone’s going to be disappointed in me...” she finished, burying her face in her hands again, sobbing even more violently than before.

——————————————————————————

For a second, Gilbert said nothing as he processed Anne’s speech. He had no idea she felt this way. The most intelligent person he had ever met was losing sleep over exams she could have aced several years ago. 

“Oh Anne,” he finally breathed, “You have nothing to worry about. Trust me when I say you could pass these exams in your sleep. You are the cleverest person I know, without a doubt. But no exam is worth making yourself sick over.”

Anne nodded, but Gilbert could see she wasn’t convinced. Deciding on a more direct approach, Gilbert wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest, leaning gratefully against him. 

“I just want this to be over already.”  
“I know Anne-girl, I know,” he replied softly, tightening his embrace.  
“Only a few more days to go,” he added. Anne gripped him tighter, still wishing, he imagined, that she could flash forward in time, until after the exams were over.

——————————————————————————

Anne had never been more glad to know Gilbert in her life. Cocooned in his arms she felt much calmer than she had in weeks; a sense of security which gave her a break from all the swirling emotions in her head. If only they could stay like this forever.

They remained like that until Anne had no more tears left to cry, wrapped around each other. Gilbert’s chin resting on Anne’s head as he rubbed her back comfortingly. 

Regretfully, Anne untangled herself from his embrace. 

“I have to get back, Marilla will be worried if I don’t return soon, and I have to go get the work I missed today from Miss Stacy...”

Gilbert stared at her incredulously.  
“Anne you’re not serious are you? The only thing you’re doing now is going back to Green Gables and having a good rest.”

Anne opened her mouth to protest, but Gilbert cut her off.

“I will tell Marilla that you need a day off, doctors orders, and then I’ll come over tomorrow evening and go over everything with you.”

If Anne was honest, sleeping sounded amazing. And if Gilbert was going to catch her up on all the work...she might as well.

So, with Gilbert’s arm around her shoulders, they set off down the track, into the sunset.

“Gilbert, am I really the cleverest person you know?”

“Glad to see you’re feeling better Anne...”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
